ENROLLED
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 67
BY REPRESENTATIVE FONTENOT
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To urge and request the Department of Transportation and Development to study the
appropriateness of safe school zone speeds on Highway 20 from the city limits of
Thibodaux northbound to Highway 304 and Chackbay Elementary School.
WHEREAS, speed limits are established to enhance safety by reducing the risks
associated with the actions of irresponsible drivers; and
WHEREAS, a speed limit that is appropriate for the particular road and its setting
increases the safety of any place for passage; and
WHEREAS, R.S. 32:63 authorizes the Department of Transportation and
Development to employ its engineering and other staff to perform traffic studies and surveys
for purposes of establishing safe speed limits considering the conditions of roadways; and
WHEREAS, speed zone studies consider various factors, such as the development
of the area, roadway features, traffic volume, accidents, and the speed vehicles are traveling;
and
WHEREAS, school buses, 18-wheelers, and many other commercial vehicles
traverse highways in the state daily and when these vehicles travel at increased speeds they
can negatively impact driver behavior and increase traffic and fatalities; and
WHEREAS, a school guard was fatally killed while performing work duties in the
school zone for the Chackbay Elementary School; and
WHEREAS, school zones are designed to keep children safe as they arrive at and
leave school; and
WHEREAS, the school zone for the Chackbay Elementary School is currently forty
miles per hour; and
WHEREAS, reduced speed limits in school zones will help to minimize injuries and
deaths; and
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WHEREAS, dedicated traffic control signals or signs will help to enhance highway
safety and facilitate orderly movement of traffic while also potentially avoiding injuries and
accidents; and
WHEREAS, the installation of traffic control signals may interrupt extremely heavy
flows of traffic and permit the crossing and turning of vehicles that could not otherwise
move safely through the intersection; and
WHEREAS, given the safety concerns associated with school zones, Louisiana may
need to take steps to ensure safety of children in school zones and persons working and
traveling said highway by setting proper speed limits in the appropriate areas and if
necessary, changing existing speed limits that are not appropriate to the location; and
WHEREAS, it is the responsibility of the state of Louisiana to provide for the safety
of its citizens to the best of its ability.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Department of Transportation and Development to study the
appropriateness of safe school zones on Highway 20 from the city limits of Thibodaux
northbound to Highway 304 and Chackbay Elementary School.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department's study shall include a
determination of the need for traffic control signals or signs on Highway 20 at Cascade
Drive.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Transportation and
Development shall submit a written report detailing its findings to the Louisiana House of
Representatives and the Louisiana Senate prior to March 1, 2022.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be forwarded to the
secretary of the Department of Transportation and Development.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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